Earlier today, a California judge overturned Prop 8, a referendum banning same sex marriage, deeming it unconstitutional. Great news! Here's a quick rundown of the tech companies that contributed to bringing about this historic ruling.

The ruling is in on California's huge trial against Prop 8, the referendum that passed last…
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Back in October of 2008, with voting on the hotly contested Prop 8 imminent, Apple contributed $100,000 to fighting the measure and offered this statement:

Apple was among the first California companies to offer equal rights and benefits to our employees' same-sex partners, and we strongly believe that a person's fundamental rights— including the right to marry — should not be affected by their sexual orientation. Apple views this as a civil rights issue, rather than just a political issue, and is therefore speaking out publicly against Proposition 8.

They weren't the only ones. Google founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page contributed a combined $140,000 to the "No on 8" campaign, and Google issued a statement on the proposition on their official blog:

As an Internet company, Google is an active participant in policy debates surrounding information access, technology and energy. Because our company has a great diversity of people and opinions — Democrats and Republicans, conservatives and liberals, all religions and no religion, straight and gay — we do not generally take a position on issues outside of our field, especially not social issues. So when Proposition 8 appeared on the California ballot, it was an unlikely question for Google to take an official company position on.

However, while there are many objections to this proposition — further government encroachment on personal lives, ambiguously written text — it is the chilling and discriminatory effect of the proposition on many of our employees that brings Google to publicly oppose Proposition 8. While we respect the strongly-held beliefs that people have on both sides of this argument, we see this fundamentally as an issue of equality. We hope that California voters will vote no on Proposition 8 — we should not eliminate anyone's fundamental rights, whatever their sexuality, to marry the person they love.

Beyond those individual companies, several tech titans banded together to form a group opposed to the proposition, named "Silicon Valley Leaders Say NO on Proposition 8." Those individuals, who collectively put out the ad to the left, include:

And while Prop 8 passed that November, 52% to 48%, it seems that today's ruling is the rare item that a good deal of Silicon Valley, even its fiercest competitors, can agree is great news. [LA Times, All Things D]